Reunion
by Umaguma
Summary: My take on the reunion of Daryl and Merle with the prison group. If I continue I will keep it light, TWD is sad enough. Caryl shipped.
1. Chapter 1

"Now the way I see it, If you're gonna stay here with us we gotta have an understanding" Rick stated with conviction. There was no concessions to be made and Rick was going to make it clear to Merle the condition of his stay at the prison. "We don't do democracy here, what I says goes, It's kept us alive and it works." Rick paused, letting his words sink in as he glanced over to Daryl standing a few paces away.

Rick took a step towards Merle he lowered his voice, "That being said, Daryl here is my second, that means when I'm not around he's in charge. That's the way its been for awhile now and will continue to be." Rick paused again, stepping away from Merle he gestures to Daryl "This man's word is to be obeyed without question, what he says goes. I trust him and my people trust him. Now I understand you're the older brother, but as it stands your ability to tell Daryl what to do is gone. You're the lesser man in this relationship Merle and if I even see you bat an eye in defiance towards myself or Daryl I'm setting you up nice and pretty in one of our cells and locking the door."

Merle stood his ground, uncharacteristically silent as Rick laid down the law. He looked at Daryl as Rick proclaimed him leader in Rick's absence, and despite the fact that Rick was putting on restrictions, he felt a swell of pride that his little brother was respected.

Daryl watched his older brother carefully, sensitive to the smallest twitch on his face. Daryl knew that his brother was not welcomed in the group; between Merle's hand and Glen's torture, there was too much bad blood between all of them. But Rick was not going to lose Daryl, he said so much as Daryl came waltzing back in with his brother in tow. Rick will put up with Merle for Daryl, they all would put up with him for Daryl.

And that knowledge tore Daryl apart, he was never the catalyst for anything that affected others. He was the man in the back, the wallflower, there to clean up the mess and keep everything at its status-quo. Now in this new world he was valued, he was respected, he was cared for and wanted. His words held clout and his wants were taken into consideration. If he wanted his brother with the group, the group will make room for his brother.

"Ain't no problem with me, Officer friendly." Merle stated in his most cordial voice, holding his hand up in a placating gesture, "I'll be honest, If it were up to me, me and Daryl would be long gone from here. But it ain't up to me. Came apparent that my little brother cares for you folk, and I ain't got nothing but him."

Rick stared at Merle long and hard, Merle matched his gaze, not letting the eye contact waiver. Rick broke first to look at Daryl, silent communication passed between the two men and Daryl gave a quick nod, followed by Rick. The moment wasn't lost on Merle, and a small bit of understanding on Daryl's relationship to the group began to emerge. _Huh, looks like Officer Friendly wasn't talking out of his ass. _

"Rick?"

A woman's voice came from beyond the gate, Merle looked up to see a familiar face look over to them. The woman's gaze landed on Daryl and she paused before she visibly sobbed, covering her mouth as she looked down. Her hand went from her mouth to her heart as she steadied herself with the fence.

Merle noticed more silent communication passed between Rick and Daryl, another shared nod and suddenly Daryl was off walking towards the woman. Merle went to follow but stopped at the sound of Rick's voice.

"Merle, wait up."

Merle stopped and looked at Rick, waiting for him to continue. Rick shook his head and turned to watch Daryl walk towards the woman, a small smile forming at the side of his mouth. Merle followed his gaze and noticed how his brothers walk became a strut, slowly gaining in pace as he approached the woman.

Two things hit Merle at that moment; first his brother had a woman, and second she was that married chick from Atlanta.

"When did this happen?" Merle asked as they slowly followed Daryl towards the cell block.

"Not sure, hell I'm not sure there is a something...but the others...well the talk is this 'happened' on the farm."

"Daryl never said anything about no woman"

"And you wont see anything either, that's just how they are." Rick shrugged and glanced over at Merle "Why are you so interested?"

"He's my brother" Merle said in way of an answer, looking at Rick like he was an idiot. Hell Merle may not be able to talk his talk, but they sure ain't gonna censor his face.

Merle and Rick looked on as Daryl slowed his gait when he reached her. Daryl stared at her for a moment before Merle saw the woman say something. Whatever was said was low and quiet, and he saw his brother lean in close as he spoke. The woman...what was her name again? She began to talk again, her eyes pained and tears began to swell. Daryl shuffled as he looked increasingly uncomfortable, glancing around before looking back at the woman. The woman followed Daryl's glance and her gaze fell on Merle slowly approaching with Rick. She ducked her head and took a deep breath before looking back up at Daryl with a controlled expression. She smiled and placed her hand on his bicep, giving it a sleight squeeze before stepping back, putting distance between them. His brother remained still, did not flinch at the contact, and kept his eyes on the woman before him.

_Wont see anything my ass, _Merle thought with a smirk.

Forgive my errors please. Not beta'd, just posting for fun. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for all your reviews, I was going to let this story be but after all of the kind words I thought I might give this a try.

Thank you keeponswimmin for saying that the first chapter was a plausible scene, that's a wonderful compliment. However, that will probably be the last of the plausible scenarios; as I mentioned in the summary I want to keep this fic light because the show is so dark, and I can't write thriller/angst. Again not beta'd, it seemed to work out last time but if my mistakes become too much let me know and I'll try to figure out this beta thing.

Also, I'd like to just go for it and have a nice little romance without constantly thinking about how true to character I am being. The way I see it, and have always seen it, all fanfics are always OOC because we are neither the writers nor the actors (the addition of the actors influence on the characters is fascinating to me, considering these characters are comic book based the distinction is evident in this show). So that being said please enjoy whatever my head comes up with.

I may have gotten the cell block numbers wrong, I need to watch the new season again to make sure but my DVR broke.

* * *

Chapter 2

Daryl turned his head as he heard Rick and Merle approach, taking quick note of his brothers expression. Despite his attempts to make his reunion with Carol as nondescript as possible the smirk on Merle's face said that he was already entertaining the notion of them being a couple. He felt himself exhale deeply as he turned away from Carol; he didn't want his brother to gleam the idea that he felt something for Carol, and Daryl found himself thinking of ways to displace the notion.

But the thought put a foul taste in his mouth, and for the first time Daryl realized that Merle's presence changed things. Not only would it change the dynamic of the group but he now has to contend with the fact that his brother has not been around for the past year, therefore ignorant of the relationship he shared with Carol. And if he was honest with himself he didn't know how to face what he had with Carol; everything got too jumbled up when it came to her.

But he knew his brother would want to know and he'll push Daryl for a straight answer. If forced to Daryl will have to admit that things with Carol were not so straight and clear.

Setting those thoughts aside he remained quiet, unsure of how to go about reintroducing Merle to Carol. Rick took lead and made the introductions for him.

"Merle this here is Carol, Carol this is Daryl's brother Merle."

"We've met, Rick" she answered in a strained voice, Daryl felt himself tense at her tone, she wasn't happy about Merle's appearance and that cause Daryl more discomfort then he initially realized. When he and Merle were making their way over to the prison they spoke about the others not being happy about him bringing Merle around, followed by Merle's angry reminder that Daryl's group left him for dead on the roof. Daryl couldn't dispute it, if the group truly wanted to save Merle they would have done it long before their attempt. There were things to be hashed out, or left unsaid. He didn't rightly know what would become of the situation, all he knew was that they were his people, Merle was his brother, and they were gonna have to find a way.

"We met before you came around, back in Atlanta." Carol continued before giving Merle a nod and a small brief smile.

"That's right." Rick responded with a nod, "Seems so long go..." Looking back over to the cell block he gestured with his head "Come on Daryl, everyone's gonna wanna see you." Rick turned back to Merle and said "We're gonna have to figure out where to place you, I don't think staying in the same cell block with the rest of us is a good idea right now. We'll figure out where you're gonna hold up in a bit. Got things to discuss" With that he nodded towards Daryl signaling for him to walk with Rick.

"Don't worry about me, I'm sure all of us will get along just fine and dandy." Merle said sarcastically. He was damn uncomfortable right now, surrounded by people who would probably be happy he was dead, except for Daryl. Come to think of it, this was much like his existence before the outbreak; at odds with everyone except his brother. The thought made him scoff out loud and it caught the attention of Carol who had fallen back besides Merle. She gave him a thoughtful look, then saw her eyes travel down to his bloody and bandaged shoulder, her brow furrowed in concern.

"I hope that your injury is not a bite." She said as they fell behind Daryl and Rick,

"No mame, that's a bullet wound. Got shot."

She gave a curt nod and said "We can look at that for you, we don't have much but enough to ward off infection. Is the bullet still in you?"

"No, went clean through."

"Good, we can get that clean up for you."

"Much obliged." Merle responded a smile, he saw Carol's give him a disconcerting look. He didn't take kindly to her reaction considering he was trying to be nice. He wasn't one to beat around the bush, "You got something to say?"

She turned back and regarded him for a moment before responding. "Are you planning on staying with us?"

Merle looked towards his brother, " Where Daryl goes I go. Don't worry, it ain't the first time I've been surrounded by people who'd be happy to see me dead."

He was half expecting her to dispute the claim, start saying some nonsense about how they didn't want to kill him and he'd be welcome, but she didn't. She simply nodded and continued to walk in silence.

* * *

Rick walked beside Daryl, lowering his head as be began to discuss business "We got new people, A man with his daughter and a few others came around while we were gone, got in through the back of the prison."

"New people?" Daryl interjected with suspicion. He did not like the idea of anyone he didn't know in the prison.

"I got them isolated in cell block C. They seem to understand our stance on newcomers, at least their leader does, the others are anxious to be let out."

"You saying you're letting them stay?"

"I want you to meet them, talk to them, tell me what you think." Rick said, letting it be known that no decision will be made without Daryl's input.

Daryl nodded, ease rolling through him as he felt himself settle back into his role. He missed them, this rag tag family

"After we make a decision we gotta look into securing this place a little better. I think cell block D's compromised state is gonna get to us after a while. Just don't rightly know how to go about fixing it."

"We need to be more aware of the living then the dead. Need to make a defense against people."

"You saying Woodbury's gonna invade?"

"Don't know, a herd of geeks got in and started going at it with the town. Me and Merle got out in the chaos. I don't know if there is a Woodbury left." Daryl paused and looked Rick in the eye and said "Andrea was there."

"Andrea?" Stunned, Rick halted his stride and looked at Daryl. "She's alive?"

"She was, not sure about now. Looked like she and that Governor guy were pretty close, she tried to cut me loose but fucking mob was out for blood. When The geeks came she was able to get me and Merle out but she refused to come with us, said she had things to take care of."

Rick nodded and and gave a weary sigh "Well at least we know she made it off the farm. She's a strong woman she'll be alright. You told her where to find us?"

"Yup,"

"Good, if she can make it she will."

As they made their way inside Rick stopped right before the adjoining room to their cell block, he turned to Merle and said "I think it be best you stay in here 'til I explain to the others about you staying with us. Glenn was there when we left you back in Atlanta but Maggie, well she's just knows what happened in Woodbury. It's gonna take time but we'll figure things out."

Merle gave rick a dubious look, it was obvious that he thought this was not going to work out. Daryl stepped to him and said "I got your back. They'll take us in."

"I hope all this hoo-ha about you being the man is true little brother, or I'm outta here."

"Daryl's word goes a long way here Merle" Rick interjected. "We've all been through a lot, and we are not going to risk losing Daryl." And with that he went opened the door. Daryl gestured to Merle to wait as Rick unlocked the cell block and entered with Daryl and Carol at his heels.

* * *

Brief, but that seems to work for me. Thanks for reading.


End file.
